Saturday, 29 September 2012

Today is the day, folks! 'Underlife,' the novel I started three years ago, is finally available to buy.

I got the idea for the novel during my years living in East
London in my early twenties. On a journey on the London underground, I was
waiting at a station for the next train. While waiting, I noticed someone had graffitied
the wall with the words, ‘Help me.’ Straight away the thought of ‘what if that
message was written for someone in particular’ came to me. What if people were
trying to communicate with someone via these messages in order to tell them
something? I’ve always found the London Underground to be a spooky, strange
place and wanted to set a story in the location. There have been many nights
when, after working until late at night, I’ve caught the last train home and
have been inspired by the creepy atmosphere.

Not long after seeing this message on the wall, I watched a
documentary about the underground homeless in New York. Right away the two
different ideas blended and the storyline for ‘Underlife’ was born.

Here's the blurb...

Thomas Young has no idea where he comes from. Found living on the streets as
a child and put into foster care, he always dreamed of having a family of his
own. Now a grown man, he has his much longed for family, but his life is tinged
with sadness. His son, David, has leukaemia.
One night, as he's driving home from the hospital, he hits a homeless man,
Mack, with his car. Mack knows Tom from his childhood and tells Tom he was
once part of London's underground homeless and his son's leukaemia is not all
it seems.
In a desperate bid to save his son's life, Tom heads down into the miles of
abandoned tubes lines and stations. But he quickly discovers something far more
sinister waits for him than the giant rats, drug addicts and fast trains.
There is also something dark and shadowy, and it wants out...

Underlife is available to buy from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, and Smashwords. The book will be available on other sites such as Apple and Barnes & Noble very soon.

And if you'd like to 'try before you buy' you can get the prequel short story, 'Go Back' together with the first few chapters of Underlife, for free from numerous ebook stores such as Smashwords, Kobo, Barnes & Noble (currently still $0.99 on Amazon).

In other news, I know the majority of you are eagerly awaiting the
publication of the next ‘Serenity’ book, ‘Dominion’. I’m thrilled to tell you
that the first chapters have been sent off to my editor today, so the book is
well on track for its predicted release at the end of October.